22 April 2014: The poorest communities of the Andean region are especially vulnerable to climate-related disasters, a new atlas released by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) finds. The ‘Atlas of Food Security, Disasters and Climate Change’ maps climate, food security and disaster threats that will impede the sustainable development of communities in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The Atlas is one outcome of the WFP’s Vulnerability Assessment and Mapping (VAM) work, which focuses on food security. The Atlas can help policymakers identify areas most in need of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and prepare to mitigate the consequences of cimate-related disasters, according to WFP Regional Director Miguel Barreto.

Barreto noted that low-income communities already face barriers in accessing basic services, such as water, energy and markets, compounding the effects of natural disasters and climate variability. Many jurisdictions in all four countries are identified as having “severe vulnerability:” 148 municipalities in Bolivia; six departments in Colombia; 389 parishes in Ecuador; and 190 districts in Peru.

WFP is a humanitarian agency dedicated to fighting hunger worldwide. It is working with the Andean Governments to find country-led solutions to increase resilience to climate change among their most vulnerable populations. [WFP Press Release] [Publication: Atlas of Food Security, Disasters and Climate Change]